A Special Election that could also signal which way the swing state might go next year. Also the brutal fight for ukraine and a tough Reality Check on the losses ukraine has suffered in their counteroffensive. And later tonight, how the u. S. Coast guard hid a damning investigation on Sexual Assault from public view. The Newest Development in a story cnn was first to bring you. Good evening. Thanks so much for joining us. Late today, judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the former president s attorneys attempts to delay a hearing about evidence should be handled in the january 6th case. She set 10 00 friday morning for both sides to make their arguments. A short time earlier, the former president was in New Hampshire, cursing in front of a crowd, continuing to lie about the 2020 election, and seemingly suggested hell likely do it again in 2024. They rigged the president ial election in 2020, and were not going to allow them to rig the president ial election in 2024. Were not going to allow it to happen. Were not going to allow it to happen, New Hampshire. And youre such an important state. Just to point out, that man is charged with four felonies which are directly connected to his false statements in 2020 that the election was rigged and the conspiracy he allegedly entered into to overturn it. Now hes saying the same about 2024 though its hard to imagine an indicted alleged felon would be repeating anything even remotely similar to his alleged crime. It was also hard in the fall of 2020 to contemplate in the fall of 2020 any president doing what he ultimately did. Ron desantis continued his staff shakeup today, now replacing his campaign manager. Well show you what else trump said in New Hampshire, but first quickly, cnns paula reid on the legal maneuvering today. Whats expected to happen friday morning in d. C. Federal court . Reporter anderson, this is a significant hearing because this is the first time that trumps Defense Attorneys and Special Counsel prosecutors will appear before judge Tanya Chutkan. The last hearing was handled by a magistrate judge, and chutkans the one who is going to handle all of the hearings up until a likely trial. Now, on friday, both sides will have the opportunity to make their arguments about what they think the rules should look like in this case for handling and publicly sharing any sensitive information. Prosecutors want pretty broad protections where Defense Attorneys are seeking something more narrow, protections only for really sensitive information, which they argue would be more in line with what has happened in other january 6th cases. Now, judge chutkan is overseeing dozens of cases related to january 6th. Shes an experienced judge, been on the bench for about a decade, and it appears, anderson, based on her Scheduling Order so far, shes looking to move this along pretty quickly. What did the former president s team say in a court filing late today about how much time they need to prepare for trial . Reporter well, not surprisingly, theyre asking for as much time as they can possibly get. Theyre arguing that they have so much work to do. In their filing today, they argued they have to talk to hundreds of witnesses, go to terabytes of electronic information to prepare for this trial. Their long game, anderson, is to try to push this trial until after the 2024 election. Its the same strategy that theyre applying down in florida. Its unclear, though, if they will be successful in either case. But here theyre arguing that this, just like the maralago documents case, is complex, and they should be afforded much more time to prepare for trial. But judge chutkan, as i said, shes trying to move this along quickly, and she has said she wants to set a trial date at their next hearing, which is on august 28th. Paula reid, thanks for the legal update. More now on what the former president said today and why it matters. Cnns Kristen Holmes is in New Hampshire. Reporter former President Donald Trump today attacked the Special Counsel while campaigning in the critical early state of New Hampshire. They call him deranged jack smith. Reporter days after being arraigned on allegations he tried to overturn the 2020 election, despite knowing he lost. There was never a second of any day that i didnt believe that that election was rigged. It was a rigged election. Reporter trump slammed efforts from prosecutors to limit what evidence could be publicly shared in trumps case. I will talk about it. I will. Theyre not taking my First Amendment right. Reporter as he faces increasing legal jeopardy, trump remains the gop frontrunner, claiming the charges would hinder his bid for the white house. Im sorry. I wont be able to go to iowa today. I wroent be able to go to New Hampshire today because im sitting in a courtroom on bullshit. Reporter some supporters of the former president say they arent fazed by his legal issues. I think every time hes indicted, he gets stronger and stronger. I feel we have a twotiered system, and we need to go back to a onetiered system. Reporter trumps rivals also hit the trail in the Granite State tuesday as they seek to gain traction with gop voters. As his Campaign Seeks a reboot, Florida Governor ron desantis replaced his campaign manager, part of a continued shakeup of his team. And with a little more than two weeks until the first gop debate in milwaukee, former Vice President mike pence had qualified to take the stage. Trump has still not decided if hell participate in the debate and has been polling his allies and supporters. Should i do the debate . Maybe well do something else. You know, some people say yes, but they hate to say it because it doesnt make sense. Kristen, what did the former president say about potentially being indicted on election interference charges in fulton county, georgia. Reporter well, anderson, he used the opportunity to attack the district attorney, fani willis, saying she was a racist, she was only launching this investigation, potentially bringing these charges because she aspired to a higher political office. And of course he said what hes said time and time again, that it was perfect. His behavior in georgia was perfect. The phone call asking the Secretary Of State to find votes was a perfect phone call. But i will note one thing, anderson. I heard a Defense Tonight that i hadnt heard from him directly before when it related to georgia. Its something that his lawyers have said in the january 6th case. He said it was everything within his right to ask questions, to question the results of the 2020 election in georgia, and thats all he was doing. Of course thats something now we have heard his lawyers saying in the january 6th case, that thats all he was doing was questioning the results of the election. So clearly some indication that that will be what that Defense Looks like as well, anderson. Joining us now, three political commentators for cnn. Scott, how concerned should republican candidates and voters alike be that the former president seems to be telegraphing what hell do if he loses again in 2024 . Well, the republicans should be concerned about the fact that today he looks like he is the oddson favorite for the republican nomination, and there is a real chance, if you look at the way the calendar is laid out, that he could become the de facto nominee of the party, then basically become a convicted not basically, actually become a convicted felon, then become the actual nominee of the party at the convention in late summer. It will put the party in a hell of a bind because theres a huge cohort of republicans and americans who are simply not going to consider voting for a convicted felon. Now, the trump team, maybe they beat some of this. I dont know. If i were him, id want a chance to try to beat it. His lawyers seem to want to delay it. For him at this point, the campaign is his defense, and his defense is the campaign. It ensures that the campaign is going to be about nothing but him and everything related to him, and thats not what voters in suburban areas, in georgia, pennsylvania, wisconsin, and arizona are going to want to hear next year, i dont think. Paul, how critical do you think this hearing is on friday . If there are rules set about what evidence can be talked about, this is about, you know, intimidating potential witnesses. This could lead to some very strange situations. Well, it could. It could also lead to a good First Amendment argument from donald trump. Im not a trump fan, but it is important that politicians have a very wide strike zone to criticize their opponents. I suspect the judge knows that. Shes a very wellrespected judge. He cannot intimidate. To me, the line is when you say things like, if you go after me, im coming after you. Which hes already said. Right. Thats a veiled threat. But most of this, im sorry. Hes allowed to call jack smith, the prosecutor, deranged. He has to have that First Amendment right. Again, i say this as somebody who is a strong trump dollars l disliker. Im struck by the whining tone of this. When i was a kid, republicans were tough, man. Ronald reagan got shot, and he never complained. John mccain was tortured, and he never complained. This guy, hes powerful, hes privileged, hes wealthy, and all he does is whine. And god help him, the republicans seem to love that. I dont know why. I prefer joe biden, who has experienced more pain than anybody i know, and never complains because hes always saying im going to fight for you. Dont worry about me. Alice, what did you make of trump today in New Hampshire . I think paul hit the nail on the head. You know, trump is fighting for himself. Hes not fighting for republicans, and hes certainly not fighting for americans across the country. And to scotts point, this is something that should be concerning to republicans. While the former president is the titular head right now of the party, thats not a winning message in a general election. And he has made it very clear that his campaign is going to be on the indictments against him. Other republicans are out there in iowa and New Hampshire, theyre talking about jobs and the economy and safety and national security. Donald trump is talking about rigged elections, what he calls b. S. Indictments, and overzealous prosecutors. That is his onetrick pony in this campaign, and thats not a good way to win a general election. My guess, its just a matter of time. He will continue to go after jack smith and the prosecutors. His new mantra will be knock it off instead of lock her up. Thats what were going to be hearing from maga supporters if he continues this messaging, which he clearly will be. Paul, ron desantis has gotten rid of his campaign manager. Is that where the problem lies . Yeah, its always they always blame the monkey, not the organ grinder. In tv, before the anchor goes, its the producer who gets fired. Right. Believe me look, heres the problem. Here youre launching a new dog food, and you had the best veterinarians and nutritionists and farmers and butchers and marketers and advertising people, and you pour it in the bowl, and the dog just dont eat it. Ron desantis has a dog food problem, and its not going to get better by firing the campaign manager. Scott, is the candidate the problem . Well, i think donald trump is the problem, and the second problem is fragmentation. Desantis and the rest of them all have the same issue. Half or just slightly more than half of the party want to do trump again, and the people that dont are fragmented. You know, desantis has most of them or the plurality of them. But theres lots of other candidates out there who are still pulling 1 to 6 . Until desantis scares or runs everyone else out of the race, trump benefiting from this fragmentation is not going to go away, particularly if he continues to hover around 50 or above 50. I think desantis is in better shape in the state polls in iowa than he is in some of the National Polls right now. But there is no path to victory for desantis or anyone else as long as donald trump is sitting around 50 . I mean he could win it with 40 , and the trump team will tell you they feel very comfortable with his position in these states because hes well above the floor they think they need to be to capture the nomination. He doesnt need a majority of the votes in the republican primary. He just needs enough vote, and right now hes well above that line. Alice, scott mentioned the National Polls versus state polls. Its a point Chris Christie made to me last night. Governor sununu made it on the program the other night. Dont look at National Polls. Look at New Hampshire, look at iowa polls. Trump doesnt look as strong there. Its a closer margin. Do you buy that . Well, the problem is weve even seen an iowa poll where trump is still 20 points ahead of desantis. So the real question is whether were talking about National Polls or statewide polls, are they an accurate reflection of what were seeing on the ground . Im talking with political leaders and evangelicals in iowa and New Hampshire, and they say what they see and feel and hear from voters is not reflected in the polls. They see more people are looking elsewhere from donald trump and looking to candidates, whether it is desantis or tim scott or vivek. Look, theres so much headlines and so much palace intrigue and policy conversations about the shuffling of the deck and the desantis campaign. I can tell you this. If youre ever going to change your staff, now is the time to do so. And i note james, the person that has just been moved as campaign manager, he is a trusted person in the desantis world. He also can handle the organizational aspects of this. David polyansky, the Deputy Campaign manager, ive worked with him on two campaigns. He knows how to win an iowa caucus. He knows how to deal with the policy and the strategy. So in my view, from a reorganization standpoint, hes in good shape. Hes got the people in place, and hes really traveling the state of iowa. So this is a good time to push the reset button, and were seeing more from him as well as these others. Were seeing them inch up in the polls, and its not looking as ideal for donald trump as he would like to think. Chris christie made the point to me last night that if some other candidate wins in either New Hampshire or iowa, its game over for trump. Its a gamechanger. You know, the emperor has no clothes. Do you think thats true . I think governor christie is actually setting the bar too high for the trump opponents. I think even if you get close because he does have such a dominant lead. And christie is moving up in New Hampshire. The polling in New Hampshire shows Chris Christie moving up, ron desantis fading. It seems to me, desantis only needs three new advisers, the father, the son, and the holy ghost. He aint got a prayer. Watch Chris Christie. Ive been impressed by him on his town hall. Ive been impressed by tim scott, who is very, very conservative, but he just doesnt hate me, and thats sort of appealing. Its old reagan. He might hate you, paul. Hes just not saying it. Hes too polite. He just doesnt know you yet. Paul, youre very likable. Thank you so much, appreciate it, all of you. Coming up, growing concerns western allies have about ukraines counteroffensive and the toll it is taking on Ukrainian Forces. Also, a troubling followup to exclusive cnn reporting. Concealed Sexual Assaults at the Coast Guard Academy. Tonight, another cnn exclusive. What the former head of the Coast Guard Academy told us about the investigation he launched and expected would be released and what our investigation revealed about how it may have been covered up instead. Plus, the latest on the Special Election in ohio. Polls closed about 45 minutes ago. Were awaiting results ahead. Oh, oh, oh. Ill be the judge of that. Oh, thats nice. Oh searchable, verified reviews. Thats better than the ham, and ive never said that. Booking. Com booking. Yeah please dont go by harry casey, Richard Raymond finch sfx ping please dont go please dont go. Please dont go please dont go dont goooooo dont go away get a free storage upgrade when you preorder at tmobile. Please dont go the minute you drive off the lot. Or more. Thats why farmers new Car Replacement pays to replace it with a new one of the same make and model. Get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. Farmers mnemonic she found it. 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